“In a sign of the changing times, the biggest computer trade show in Asia is light on personal computers this year,” Eva Dou and Aries Poon report for The Wall Street Journal.

“Acer Inc., Asia’s second-largest PC maker by shipments behind Lenovo Group Ltd., for the first time didn’t launch any new computers at this year’s Computex show in Taipei and only showcased smaller products such as smartwatches and smartphones,” Dou and Poon report. “Intel Corp., supplier of chips powering most PCs, focused its presentations on new software features and mobile devices instead. And the slate of speakers included a slot for Tsai Ming-kai, the chairman of Taiwanese smartphone-chip maker MediaTek Inc.”

“Manufacturers have tilted their launches toward mobile and wearable devices as they look for new products to offset the PC sales decline. However, analysts said the crowds on the showroom floor have thinned out this year and there were no killer products to suggest the industry has reinvented itself out of its slump,” Dou and Poon report. “Despite the diminishing role of PCs at this year’s Computex, some technology executives are optimistic that the industry is evolving rather than declining. ‘I still think lots of money can be made in this industry,’ said Ian Drew, chief marketing officer of British chip design firm ARM Holdings PLC, whose chip architecture is used in the majority of mobile devices. ‘You just need to adapt to a new world, not staying in the old world. If you stay in the old world, the market is shrinking.'”

Sorry, off subject but the car/trucks really is a good comparison. My 94′ chevy 1500 truck still going strong. Awesome truck and like you, will be in my yard as long as it can but…it’s not my daily driver. I’ve made the jump to a Volt. Totally love not putting gas in my car and I’ve reduced filling my 9 gallon tank to about once every 3-4 months.
Loved the Tesla as also but Volt worked better for our needs.

Linux would be more like tractor trailers. They do the heavy work, are not sold to the general public, and need highly trained pros to drive and work on them. Cromebooks are more like public transportation. Limited to where and when they can go and cheep for those who can’t afford cars.

Of course ARM isn’t really in that old world even if its original chip design work was once proposed for the Mac (or at least its aborted brother). Probably thankfully for them in the end that never got off the ground and the mobile world opened up. Though maybe just maybe it could yet go full circle.